Classical Notes: April 3, 2009 Archive

Queen of the downloads

Posted at 10:13 AM on April 3, 2009 by Alison Young (2 Comments)

Classical music isn't dead; it's changing! And no more dramatically then how people listen to it. People may take in some Bach in a coffee shop, or catch world music at Carnegie, but the biggest change in how classical music is heard these days is from new media, buying music directly from one's computer and dumping it in an iPod.

No one illustrates what's going on better than Janine Jansen, the violinist dubbed the "Queen of the Download." She got this title after her 2005 Vivaldi CD became the hottest selling digital classical album that year. Last year, she released the first classical iTunes 'sessions,' and now she's outdone herself with a Tchaikovsky disc that is ONLY available as a download. I played some of her Tchaik Violin Concerto this morning on Classical-MPR and it's amazing!

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